Thrift Store Insanity

[Griking]

So I was in a Salvation Army today while on a lunch break for work and stumbled across a lot of 11 Colecovision games in a case. They were all loose and $3 but there wasn't anything special in the lot and I already owned them all so I didn't bother picking them up.

So as I'm walking around I notice a kid who appeared to be about 17 who saw them. He snatched them up and started yelling "Mom, Mom". He ran to his mom and asked her to hold the games while he ran out to his car to get his cell phone. When he got back I was kinda curious and eavesdropped on his call (technically I suppose it wasn't eavesdropping since he was yelling loud enough for the entire store to hear his conversation). So I guess he called his brother who knew something about games. He described his "huge find" and how Donkey Kong alone is worth $20 alone. Mind you, he's in the front of the store by the register speaking loud enough for everyone including the manager to hear him.

Eventually his brother must have talked him out of buying them as he put them back but I couldn't help but think the entire time that this is exactly the kind of person who's responsible for dirt common games being priced for $10 each at thrift stores. He knew absolutely nothing about what he found and had no plans on buying the games to play them but insisted on announcing to the store that they had to be worth at least $20 each online.

I ended up talking to the kid for a little while since he knew enough to be dangerous and wondered if he was a collector (he wasn't). I also tried to explain that the games were common but that it wouldn't hurt to be a little more discrete next time he thinks he make a find so that the thrift store associates wouldn't all think that they under-priced them and cause them to over-price all games in the future. I don't know if it sunk in or not.

the whole experience was funny yet very sad at the same time.

[DarthKur]

That is disheartening to hear. It really is numbskulls like that, that ruin things for us gamers/collectors. I'd be willing to bet that the manager in that shop will start to look up such items online from now on. Then either the price will be drastically raised or you'll never even get a chance to see them in the first place since they'll be put on Ebay immediately. :(

[DaBargainHunta]

C'mon, guys... Do you REALLY think any self-respecting manager worth his salt is going to be dumb enough to listen to the loud, immature cell phone rantings of a 17-year-old KID who shouts "MOM! MOM!" in the middle of a packed store? ;)

[bangtango]

I'm being perfectly serious:

Sooner or later some gaming site will announce a "historic" moment in retro game collecting when two people get into a verbal or physical fight over a "rare" item at a flea market or in a thrift store.

You just know that there will come a day when a couple of morons get into a fight someplace over a Super NES rpg or some sought after Sega CD/Saturn game. The police report will probably be listed online somewhere and "news" of this type of behavior will sweep internet message boards. Maybe if we are lucky, a couple of people will happen to record it for YouTube.

[xtremegamer]

Just recently while in a pawn shop, I walked in at the same time as this older gentleman, we both went strait for the video games. I seen a bunch of new N64 titles and I started to panic. Since I held the door for him, he got to the games first. Sure enough I weasle my way in front of him and pick up Super Smash Bros., Zelda MM (Gold), and Mario Party for $5 each. Nothing too rare, but they have pretty good resale value. As Im taking them up to the register he kind of gives me a smug look, I return with "Hey, I opened the door for you". That could of got real ugly.

Don't get in my way while shopping for games in the same place, I'll take you down. LOL. Just joking, but I usually will try to weasle games out of peoples hands that I may want at places like pawn shops, flea markets, ect. As soon as they set it down, it's open game.

[bangtango]

Just recently while in a pawn shop, I walked in at the same time as this older gentleman, we both went strait for the video games. I seen a bunch of new N64 titles and I started to panic. Since I held the door for him, he got to the games first. Sure enough I weasle my way in front of him and pick up Super Smash Bros., Zelda MM (Gold), and Mario Party for $5 each. Nothing too rare, but they have pretty good resale value. As Im taking them up to the register he kind of gives me a smug look, I return with "Hey, I opened the door for you". That could of got real ugly.

Don't get in my way while shopping for games in the same place, I'll take you down. LOL. Just joking, but I usually will try to weasle games out of peoples hands that I may want at places like pawn shops, flea markets, ect. As soon as they set it down, it's open game.

You'll have to clarify. If you physically pull it out of someone's hands, you could be asking for trouble from the other person or a store manager. They saw it, or had it, first. It is one thing if you rush to get there before someone or squeeze in next to them. It becomes a whole different story if you tug at something a person actually has in their hand.

With that said, I find that I have to grab every single item I may be interested in when I am at a thrift store and carry it around the entire time I am shopping. So I walk around with a armful of stuff, most of which I am only remotely interested in. I don't put something down (or back) until I am absolutely certain I do not want it or can't afford it. Considering there is a game shop owner who regularly hits these places for "cheap" stock to resell, not to mention all of the Ebay sellers in the area, it is the only sure way to ensure I actually get my share of the good stuff.

Of course, this probably gives me away just as quickly as some dude who calls home on his cellphone to check prices, brags to the store clerks about how much the stuff is "really" worth or is carrying around a Digital Press guide in the store and checking prices. Let's just say that when the exact same 20-something year old girl has rung up 4-5 Playstation systems, 3-4 Sega Genesis systems, 2-3 Nintendo 64 systems and a couple of NES consoles for me in the past several months, I'm sure she knows something is up with me and has mentioned me in passing to other employees.

[MarioMania]

When I go in to a thirft store or goodwill, When I buy something I like I keep it

[RickHarrisMaine]

I just get more annoyed at the looky-loos at the Goodwills and other thrift stores who get a cart and use it to barricade themselves against a section of the store at a time. Like they will line the cart against the whole section of CD's while they are browsing, ensuring that no one else will be able to browse...I give them a "Hey jerk, I know what the hell you're doing" kind of look, or just stare at them intently, and they usually move. You just want to say, "the whole store is full of crap, you don't own all of it!"

[theshizzle3000]

I just get more annoyed at the looky-loos at the Goodwills and other thrift stores who get a cart and use it to barricade themselves against a section of the store at a time. Like they will line the cart against the whole section of CD's while they are browsing, ensuring that no one else will be able to browse...I give them a "Hey jerk, I know what the hell you're doing" kind of look, or just stare at them intently, and they usually move. You just want to say, "the whole store is full of crap, you don't own all of it!"

Yeah I have it happen all the time I actually just move their cart out the way and then I get the "hey jerk" look and I just say sorry and go back to looking as though it didn't phase me.

[Cambot]

What I hate are the thrift stores where the line of people buying clothes stretches around the entire store, and all I want is some $2.98 copy of Donkey Kong Country or something and I'm rushing to get to work. This is the only time I'm tempted to steal. Not because I'm greedy or dishonest, just impatient.

[Captain Wrong]

LOL

Man, I have a million stories...

I can relate to the OP in full. Thrifts are the place you want to use your poker face. Let them think they're giving away gems, and watch your finds dry up at that store.

I have kind of a similar story, at least to the cell phone part. Not too long ago, a thrift in my area had a bunch of CEDs (aka RCA Videodiscs.) At the time I was just considering starting a CED collection, so this was pretty cool. But, here was this woman (an eBay professional, I found out. Nice, but still makes me roll my eyes.) on the phone flipping through the discs. She was having someone on the other end look up EVERY title on eBay to see what it was going for.

The irony here is, if you know anything about CED, you know the movies are for the most part worthless. A working player can bring some coin but the actual discs, even the rare ones, really don't go for much money. When I though about all the time she was wasting on the phone (and wasting her partner in crime's time too) and considered how many other times she may have made calls like that versus any return, I realized the futility of trying to be an eBay professional.

Also, I have no problem sharing the racks but I will get agressive on a rack hog. I've been thrifting way to long to be intimitadated by anyone.

[mailman187666]

Both my brother and I collect games so when we go out on the hunt together, we like to mess with each other. If him and I are looking through the same pile of games, I'll go to act like I'm gonna grab something real quick and try and make him freak out. Or I'll go "Oh my god!!!" and pick out a copy of some barbie or sesemea street game to make him roll his eyes at me. One time him and I were looking through these atari 2600 games and he passed right by a Swordquest: Waterworld and I picked it out seconds after he had already looked, he was pissed that he didn't notice it....I think its cuz he was rushing to other sections before i could look through them. We'll even try to walk faster than one another into the store and try to beat each other to the section just to fuck with each other. We dorks about it but thats what makes it fun. Him and I help each other collect but we also compete to....it makes it fun, especially when it comes time to find Waterworld and a Chase the Chuck Wagon for next to nothing.

[Pantechnicon]

What I hate are the thrift stores where the line of people buying clothes stretches around the entire store, and all I want is some $2.98 copy of Donkey Kong Country or something and I'm rushing to get to work. This is the only time I'm tempted to steal. Not because I'm greedy or dishonest, just impatient.

My local Savers is the absolute WORST for this. Invariably I get stuck behind one or two bluehaired old crones with a basket full of clothes when all I've got at most is some greasy old Genny cart or a stuffed animal for my kids. To make it worse, these old bats will always double-check the price of every item as it's scanned and will quibble over the slightest anomaly: "You rang that at $1.49 but the sign said those were $1.25!" :frustrated:

I believe that it is simply a question of good manners in a store queue to allow someone with only one or two items ahead of you, no matter how much of a hurry you might be in. I practice what I preach here, too, and my kids have seen me allow for this lots of times. So this one time I was in Savers with my daughter and naught but a stuffed Pikachu in our hands. As we approach the checkout, sure enough, this granny with a scale model of Mount Laundry in her cart maneuvers ahead of us, cutting us off from the register. I look her in the eye with a "You know that's not right" look, and she looks back at me like I'm from another planet. So my daughter says "Daddy, that old lady got ahead of us."

"I know dear."

"But she's got a full cart."

Raising my voice enough to be picked up on the Beltone: "Yes dear, she has a full cart."

"But you said that's not good manners."

"No, it's not good manners. But I guess when you get to be as old as she is, every second remaining in what's left of your life becomes too important to consider such things."

The old gal turned bright red and went back to fretting over pennies and rags.

[RockNRollJerk]

I just get more annoyed at the looky-loos at the Goodwills and other thrift stores who get a cart and use it to barricade themselves against a section of the store at a time. Like they will line the cart against the whole section of CD's while they are browsing, ensuring that no one else will be able to browse...I give them a "Hey jerk, I know what the hell you're doing" kind of look, or just stare at them intently, and they usually move. You just want to say, "the whole store is full of crap, you don't own all of it!"

I've never used this cart barricading idea, but I think it's very disrespectful when you don't allow someone space to browse something they're obviously interested in. I'm a record collector, and often a goodwill or a thrift store will have maybe 2-3 hundred records at a time, certainly not enough for more than one person to be looking through at once. I don't appreciate anybody who gets right up next to me to look at the same thing I'm looking at. I think it's very rude. I was here first, be polite and wait your turn.

[Technosis]

I've never used this cart barricading idea, but I think it's very disrespectful when you don't allow someone space to browse something they're obviously interested in. I'm a record collector, and often a goodwill or a thrift store will have maybe 2-3 hundred records at a time, certainly not enough for more than one person to be looking through at once. I don't appreciate anybody who gets right up next to me to look at the same thing I'm looking at. I think it's very rude. I was here first, be polite and wait your turn.

You wouldn't like the garage sales in my area. It turns into a big grab fest, especially where the antique/flea mkt/ebay dealers are involved. I've seen the "cart barricade" used in thrifts many times, including the "cart battering ram LOL" used to force people out of isle ways. Sadly thrifts and junk sales are places where poor manners often gain people an advantage....

[xtremegamer]

You'll have to clarify. If you physically pull it out of someone's hands, you could be asking for trouble from the other person or a store manager. They saw it, or had it, first. It is one thing if you rush to get there before someone or squeeze in next to them. It becomes a whole different story if you tug at something a person actually has in their hand.

With that said, I find that I have to grab every single item I may be interested in when I am at a thrift store and carry it around the entire time I am shopping. So I walk around with a armful of stuff, most of which I am only remotely interested in. I don't put something down (or back) until I am absolutely certain I do not want it or can't afford it. Considering there is a game shop owner who regularly hits these places for "cheap" stock to resell, not to mention all of the Ebay sellers in the area, it is the only sure way to ensure I actually get my share of the good stuff.

Of course, this probably gives me away just as quickly as some dude who calls home on his cellphone to check prices, brags to the store clerks about how much the stuff is "really" worth or is carrying around a Digital Press guide in the store and checking prices. Let's just say that when the exact same 20-something year old girl has rung up 4-5 Playstation systems, 3-4 Sega Genesis systems, 2-3 Nintendo 64 systems and a couple of NES consoles for me in the past several months, I'm sure she knows something is up with me and has mentioned me in passing to other employees.

I would never take something out of someones hands. Now them setting it down, as long as they don't have it right in front of them, I will go for the item. I may be an A** when buying video games, but not a total D*ck. Never snatch things out of peoples hand. Of course if it was something like a rare proto, or a NWC cart, of course I would go to war for something like that. LOL.

[boatofcar]

Griking, I think it's pretty cool that you took the time to talk to the kid afterwards. I hope what you told him stuck with him.

[heybtbm]

I'm still wondering what kind of 17 yr. old still goes to stores with his mom?

[theshizzle3000]

You wouldn't like the garage sales in my area. It turns into a big grab fest, especially where the antique/flea mkt/ebay dealers are involved. I've seen the "cart barricade" used in thrifts many times, including the "cart battering ram LOL" used to force people out of isle ways. Sadly thrifts and junk sales are places where poor manners often gain people an advantage....

It's only a matter of time till thrift stores have a weekly "black friday"

[XxHennersXx]

One time I was at a Goodwill and i was placing N64 titles into my cart and when i turned around. THEY WERE GONE. And I saw someone who was 30 maybe 40 walking away with them!

[GarrettCRW]

You see, this is why I don't play around with thrifts and pawn shops, even though Vegas is lousy with the places (for obvious reasons). Too much stress for the mere possibility of a bargain. eBay may be overpriced and all that, but life's too short to screw around with rude people and scalpers looking for the proverbial "big score". Even game stores (like the Gamecrazy that's on my way home from work) are a waste of time when you get hassled by salespeople or can't buy a game because it belongs to a someone who works there.

[Flack]

I never realized people were intentionally blocking my access with their cart. I just always assumed that people were being careless or inconsiderate about where they were leaving their cart ... which is why I always move them. I am constantly moving people's carts at stores if they are in my way. The only time I won't touch someone's cart is if there's a kid in there. But if your cart is blocking access to a glass case ... look out!

My big pet peeve is people who need to look/be where you are. Like, when I'm looking at games or something and then someone will come over and try and weasel in between me and whatever I'm looking at. So rude. Have you ever tried to trick someone into buying something? If I notice someone hawking me (watching everything I pick up, look at, etc) I'll pick up something and say, "man these sell for like 10x this on eBay!" and then I'll put it down, walk away, and wait and see if they'll pick it up.

[Captain Wrong]

I hate people who feel the need to run their cart down EVERY FUCKING ISLE in the thrift. As I'm sure you all know, most thrifts are so poorly laid out, there's barely room for one person to walk, let alone drag a cart through. And these people have to handle every piece of merchandise in the store. They don't want to actually buy it, but they need to throughly examine everything.

Yesterday, I got stuck behind not one, but two Mt. Clothsemores with my three books and five 45s. Insult to injury, once they checked out, they just abandoned their carts by the till, leaving them right in the way of everyone else trying to check out and leave the store. I swear there must be a sign saying "Abandon Manners, all ye who enter here" that I'm just not seeing.

[MrSmiley381]

I'm 17, a collector, and rarely go anywhere with my mom, since I can DRIVE and that makes me feel WONDERFUL. This kid sounds like a Bizarro MrSmiley381.

When I got my Neo Geo for $20, I was as fucking discrete as possible. Then I felt awesome AGAIN.

[Niku-Sama]

the goodwill i go to most often is pretty well laid out and i really havent had any of these problems. my issue is i might see something and say "oh well i'll come back later for it" and its gone which beats the hell out of me because i know most of the people shopping there dont know what the hell they are buying. the thing i passed up last was a Super Mario Kart Radio....but it was $18. but i guess it all evens out because i did find a complete 2600 for $20 there too.

[hattg]

I'm still wondering what kind of 17 yr. old still goes to stores with his mom?

One that doesn't have a license and a mother kind enough to drive him to the thrift store?

[Griking]

I had the impression that the kid was there because his mom wanted to be there, not that the kid had his mom drive him there. He also may have been a little younger than 17. He was a LARGE framed kid but I suppose kids are getting larger younger nowadays

[Cambot]

I just like to think he was a fat mamma's boy with no life or social skills.

[Vinnysdad]

Whats wrong with guy going with his mom? I go to the thrift stores with my Grandma all the time. She likes to shop at the thrifts and I keep her company and get to find all kinds of games. Im not emberassed and dont care what people think.

[bangtango]

One time I was at a Goodwill and i was placing N64 titles into my cart and when i turned around. THEY WERE GONE. And I saw someone who was 30 maybe 40 walking away with them!

It was in a cart, man. Of course he is going to grab it. People have been using that trick in supermarkets and department stores for years. I don't even grab a basket when I go in thrift stores. That is one reason why I never overspend in a place like Goodwill. If you have more stuff than you can physically carry to the register, in an armload or in a basket, then you are probably spending more than you should. Having that strategy allows me to establish a limit or guideline. If I used a big heavy cart, I could piss away a hundred bucks on a good day when a lot of nice stuff has just been put out.

I've never purchased more than a dozen games at once in a thrift store, even if there might have been 15-20 games I wanted or would have considered. I've also never purchased more than 2 systems at once in any thrift store, even though I've had days where I walked into Goodwill and found 5-6 systems ready for the taking (just common stuff in the Atari/Sega/Nintendo/Sony vein). What I do is take the stuff I really want/need the most or, if that fails, the stuff that has the highest resale value.

[theshizzle3000]

Whats wrong with guy going with his mom? I go to the thrift stores with my Grandma all the time. She likes to shop at the thrifts and I keep her company and get to find all kinds of games. Im not emberassed and dont care what people think.

I don't know why but people assume this is different. I mean its less embarrasing to be with your grandma then your mom. I will say however the problem with going with grandmothers is that they insist on looking at EVERYTHING.

[XxHennersXx]

I'm 18 and would often go thrifting with my mom. I was going to today but went with friends instead. The reason I go with my mom is because she loves going thrifting, and I go to find games and stuff.

So often my mom would say stuff like "I'm going to goodwill" and I'd go with her. I mean, hell she got me in the mood to go thrifting. Why would I drive in a different car when she's going anyway?

[bangtango]

I'm 18 and would often go thrifting with my mom. I was going to today but went with friends instead. The reason I go with my mom is because she loves going thrifting, and I go to find games and stuff.

So often my mom would say stuff like "I'm going to goodwill" and I'd go with her. I mean, hell she got me in the mood to go thrifting. Why would I drive in a different car when she's going anyway?

I live right down the street from my older brother and I often run into him in Goodwill or the Salvation Army. The funny thing is that neither of us know when the other one is going. Like me, he is smart enough to not blow his cover when looking at some games in a place like Goodwill. It doesn't stop him from calling me after he comes home to tell me what cool video game stuff he managed to "harvest" (his words) during his most recent visit.

I'm 27 years old and I've actually went to Goodwill with my mother a couple of times in the past year or so. It is not what you think, though, and I don't live in her basement (or in her attic). We both work all the time and hardly see each other. Every few months, my mother and I have the same day off. When that happens, her and I might go out to lunch together. Along the way, we'll go into the Salvation Army and Goodwill.

The only trouble is that my mom still treats me like a kid. Even though I have my own paycheck and don't live with her anymore, I haven't for many years, she STILL insists on buying me one or two things every time I go into one of those places with her. She even gave me some $1's out of her purse the last time I went with her, about a month ago. This happened in front of a few other people. This saves me some money, I guess, but it also makes me feel like a dork. It is either take the money and look like a mama's boy or refuse it and look like a uptight jerk. Hey, she helped me "buy" a few Sega Genesis games and a PC game the last time I went to Goodwill with her, though. It also gives her an idea of what I like to buy in there. As a result, my mother regularly picks up games that she thinks I might want when I am not there with her. Most of it is common stuff or something I already own but every so often, she grabs me a decent gem.

[The Shawn]

I live right down the street from my older brother and I often run into him in Goodwill or the Salvation Army. The funny thing is that neither of us know when the other one is going. Like me, he is smart enough to not blow his cover when looking at some games in a place like Goodwill. It doesn't stop him from calling me after he comes home to tell me what cool video game stuff he managed to "harvest" (his words) during his most recent visit.

I'm 27 years old and I've actually went to Goodwill with my mother a couple of times in the past year or so. It is not what you think, though, and I don't live in her basement (or in her attic). We both work all the time and hardly see each other. Every few months, my mother and I have the same day off. When that happens, her and I might go out to lunch together. Along the way, we'll go into the Salvation Army and Goodwill.

The only trouble is that my mom still treats me like a kid. Even though I have my own paycheck and don't live with her anymore, I haven't for many years, she STILL insists on buying me one or two things every time I go into one of those places with her. She even gave me some $1's out of her purse the last time I went with her, about a month ago. This happened in front of a few other people. This saves me some money, I guess, but it also makes me feel like a dork. It is either take the money and look like a mama's boy or refuse it and look like a uptight jerk. Hey, she helped me "buy" a few Sega Genesis games and a PC game the last time I went to Goodwill with her, though. It also gives her an idea of what I like to buy in there. As a result, my mother regularly picks up games that she thinks I might want when I am not there with her. Most of it is common stuff or something I already own but every so often, she grabs me a decent gem.


What a DORK!...........................JK


Seriously though, Iv'e taken my Mom thrifting a few times, and I just throw stuff in her cart if I'm broke. Usually I pay for everything, but if I don't have the cash..........My mom doesn't drive so I have to come down and pick her up and bring her "Up town" and she's alway's like "You want that, go ahead, I'll pay, Gas cost's money.." Usually I never find anything expensive but It just makes her feel good so what ta' heck.(I'm 34 bye the way) Never felt embarrassed though. Also she will go into a Goodwill and look at EVERY book, and you know how many books are there!

But back on topic: I was in the Goodwill in Brewer once and they had just put out about 20 SNES games. Which I launched myself over to, they were all 3.99 a piece. I only had about $25 on me and so I got myself a few semi uncommons like FF 2,L.O.T.R, Gemfire and so on, well I put the rest down that I didn't want. Nothing rare mind you, and some 12 year old kid and his MOTHER rushed over and picked them up! All of them. The kid's mother had a huge grin on her face and eyeballed me like I must be totally out of mind for leaving these games, "Commons" as they were. I started laughing when she got rung up, $65 bucks for maybe 12 games that she couldn't sell at a yardsale for $2 a piece! I was right behind her at the counter, as I wanted her to think she had just scored the "big'n" .

Well The kid watched as I unloaded my games on the counter, and noticed the titles I had chosen.His face got all pouty and he whispered something to "Psyco ebay lady mom" and Let's just say ,If looks could kill ........ I gave the kid a big smile and went Bah,ha,ha, all evil-ly, as the girl rung me up.I thought the kid was gonna cry. The mother just Hmpff'd about it. I look back on that day about a year ago, and realise it wasn't a very adult thing to do,(Or Christian) but I still laugh.My wife was with me and I don't think She's ever been so embarassed! Oh well...

It's people like these that are ruining the thrift's for finding Games at a reasonable price. When I first started collecting It would have been unheard of to go much over the 1.99 price or even .49 for an Atari cart at goodwill, now 4.99 is an average SMB/DH price! I went to a Salvation Army when I was in Portland recently and the saw an "Uber-rare" 2600 with about 15 common games and a big piece of plastic torn out of it, under glass and locked down for $75.00!

I get better deals through the forums here. I think the Goodwill/Salvation Army days for VG's are long gone.

Shawn

[XxHennersXx]

What a DORK!...........................JK


Seriously though, Iv'e taken my Mom thrifting a few times, and I just throw stuff in her cart if I'm broke. Usually I pay for everything, but if I don't have the cash..........My mom doesn't drive so I have to come down and pick her up and bring her "Up town" and she's alway's like "You want that, go ahead, I'll pay, Gas cost's money.." Usually I never find anything expensive but It just makes her feel good so what ta' heck.(I'm 34 bye the way) Never felt embarrassed though. Also she will go into a Goodwill and look at EVERY book, and you know how many books are there!

But back on topic: I was in the Goodwill in Brewer once and they had just put out about 20 SNES games. Which I launched myself over to, they were all 3.99 a piece. I only had about $25 on me and so I got myself a few semi uncommons like FF 2,L.O.T.R, Gemfire and so on, well I put the rest down that I didn't want. Nothing rare mind you, and some 12 year old kid and his MOTHER rushed over and picked them up! All of them. The kid's mother had a huge grin on her face and eyeballed me like I must be totally out of mind for leaving these games, "Commons" as they were. I started laughing when she got rung up, $65 bucks for maybe 12 games that she couldn't sell at a yardsale for $2 a piece! I was right behind her at the counter, as I wanted her to think she had just scored the "big'n" .

Well The kid watched as I unloaded my games on the counter, and noticed the titles I had chosen.His face got all pouty and he whispered something to "Psyco ebay lady mom" and Let's just say ,If looks could kill ........ I gave the kid a big smile and went Bah,ha,ha, all evil-ly, as the girl rung me up.I thought the kid was gonna cry. The mother just Hmpff'd about it. I look back on that day about a year ago, and realise it wasn't a very adult thing to do,(Or Christian) but I still laugh.My wife was with me and I don't think She's ever been so embarassed! Oh well...

It's people like these that are ruining the thrift's for finding Games at a reasonable price. When I first started collecting It would have been unheard of to go much over the 1.99 price or even .49 for an Atari cart at goodwill, now 4.99 is an average SMB/DH price! I went to a Salvation Army when I was in Portland recently and the saw an "Uber-rare" 2600 with about 15 common games and a big piece of plastic torn out of it, under glass and locked down for $75.00!

I get better deals through the forums here. I think the Goodwill/Salvation Army days for VG's are long gone.

Shawn

Indeed they are. But even the smaller "collector" shops are becoming horrible. One just opened, and they want 15 dollars for Dragon Warrior. And that's not the worst of it, they want 8 for Super Mario/Duck Hunt!

[bangtango]

What a DORK!...........................JK


Seriously though, Iv'e taken my Mom thrifting a few times, and I just throw stuff in her cart if I'm broke. Usually I pay for everything, but if I don't have the cash..........My mom doesn't drive so I have to come down and pick her up and bring her "Up town" and she's alway's like "You want that, go ahead, I'll pay, Gas cost's money.." Usually I never find anything expensive but It just makes her feel good so what ta' heck.(I'm 34 bye the way) Never felt embarrassed though. Also she will go into a Goodwill and look at EVERY book, and you know how many books are there!

But back on topic: I was in the Goodwill in Brewer once and they had just put out about 20 SNES games. Which I launched myself over to, they were all 3.99 a piece. I only had about $25 on me and so I got myself a few semi uncommons like FF 2,L.O.T.R, Gemfire and so on, well I put the rest down that I didn't want. Nothing rare mind you, and some 12 year old kid and his MOTHER rushed over and picked them up! All of them. The kid's mother had a huge grin on her face and eyeballed me like I must be totally out of mind for leaving these games, "Commons" as they were. I started laughing when she got rung up, $65 bucks for maybe 12 games that she couldn't sell at a yardsale for $2 a piece! I was right behind her at the counter, as I wanted her to think she had just scored the "big'n" .

Well The kid watched as I unloaded my games on the counter, and noticed the titles I had chosen.His face got all pouty and he whispered something to "Psyco ebay lady mom" and Let's just say ,If looks could kill ........ I gave the kid a big smile and went Bah,ha,ha, all evil-ly, as the girl rung me up.I thought the kid was gonna cry. The mother just Hmpff'd about it. I look back on that day about a year ago, and realise it wasn't a very adult thing to do,(Or Christian) but I still laugh.My wife was with me and I don't think She's ever been so embarassed! Oh well...

It's people like these that are ruining the thrift's for finding Games at a reasonable price. When I first started collecting It would have been unheard of to go much over the 1.99 price or even .49 for an Atari cart at goodwill, now 4.99 is an average SMB/DH price! I went to a Salvation Army when I was in Portland recently and the saw an "Uber-rare" 2600 with about 15 common games and a big piece of plastic torn out of it, under glass and locked down for $75.00!

I get better deals through the forums here. I think the Goodwill/Salvation Army days for VG's are long gone.

Shawn

$75 for an Atari 2600? 3-4 months ago, I saw an Atari 5200 at my local Goodwill under glass with some common $1 games for around $80. That can't really be the going rate for certain Atari systems in most Goodwill stores, can it? Somebody with deeper pockets than me, and a potentially softer head, bought the shebang because it was gone when I came back the next day.

[snes_collector]

My mom takes me to the thrifts all the time.......

[Greg2600]

Rarely I even attempt a Goodwill or Salvation Army, as the neighborhoods they are in are not worth venturing into.

[Technosis]

I'm 27 years old and I've actually went to Goodwill with my mother a couple of times in the past year or so. It is not what you think, though, and I don't live in her basement (or in her attic).

Hey don't count out the "basement collector" LOL I know one antique dealer who drops his adult son off to "camp" at the local thrifts to catch the stuff as it is wheeled out mid-afternoon. The guy scoops up EVERYTHING remotely valuable. Since the son doesn't have a day job and no living expenses he can waste all the time in the world. IMHO the thrift game is one where the working person is at a big disadvantage.

Well The kid watched as I unloaded my games on the counter, and noticed the titles I had chosen.His face got all pouty and he whispered something to "Psyco ebay lady mom" and Let's just say ,If looks could kill ........ I gave the kid a big smile and went Bah,ha,ha, all evil-ly, as the girl rung me up.I thought the kid was gonna cry. The mother just Hmpff'd about it. I look back on that day about a year ago, and realise it wasn't a very adult thing to do,(Or Christian) but I still laugh.My wife was with me and I don't think She's ever been so embarassed! Oh well...


You should only feel bad if the kid was actually going to play the games LOL

[exit]

I went on my first real thrift store hunt today, but the most I saw was a Mario/Duck Hunt cart, 2 DC's, a Genesis and some random N64 game. There's a huge Goodwill in my area, but I can't remember where the hell it is and I'm sure I could find something there. I did see a Friday the 13th 07 calander tho, it had pictures of various deaths from the movies, what's ever better is that it was in the toy section.

Oh well, at least I know where to go if my Dreamcast goes bad, or of I ever need a Genesis.

I did have a nice little chuckle tho, they made an announcement about some "really cool" tie dye shirts on the counter. I happened to see them before hand and they looked hideous.

[XxHennersXx]

Rarely I even attempt a Goodwill or Salvation Army, as the neighborhoods they are in are not worth venturing into.

if you think thats bad, i'll take a picture...i venture into an area where outside the swap meet it has a sign that says "THIS IS A NO FLYING GANG COLORS AREA. WE ARE TO REMAIN NEUTRAL" etc etc.

basically, it's a warning to deter gang violence. xD

[Technosis]

if you think thats bad, i'll take a picture...i venture into an area where outside the swap meet it has a sign that says "THIS IS A NO FLYING GANG COLORS AREA. WE ARE TO REMAIN NEUTRAL" etc etc.

basically, it's a warning to deter gang violence. xD

I've seen this frequently in nightclubs etc. but not at swap meets or flea markets.

[Sph1nx]

Flack, that tactic is AWESOME!

[Natty Bumppo]

I inhabit thrift stores a lot - I have about 20 I hit every week (the closer ones several times a week) and people are just idiotic when they get to the counter - bragging about how much something is worth to the clerks and everyone around them. (My fave is "Hey - this is worth $X - got any more in back?") 90% of the time of course they have worthless pieces of junk.

A few months back I was at the counter waiting to be checked out and I had a nice framed Michael Parks print that was surprising cheaply priced. The guy in front of me (who was obviously a buy and sell guy by what he had in his hands) turns to me right by the clerk and says "How much are you gonna get for that?" I just played dumb and said I thought it was purty.

The video game stuff turning up in thrift stores has been pretty meager for years - although a score turns up once in awhile.
(I recently got a complete lunar silver star playstation complete for$3.89 just as an example.)
Fortunately I look for so many things (I am a collector from way back when) I almost always find something interesting in my rounds.

[jb143]

I wish I had some of these problems. I occasionally find good deals but the goodwill in my town but they seem to price a lot of it off ebay. If they have something good...they will sometimes have a printout of an ebay page with a similar item at an outrageous bid...and their price matching it. I don't think they realize that ebay is where people will pay as much as they possibly can for something...it's not a thrift store. A thrift store is where you sell thing you got for free so even for a penny is 100% profit.

I did get a gameboy advance there for $4 once though but the next week they had 2 original gameboys for $15 a piece:hmm:

[alice_curiouser]

I wish I had some of these problems. I occasionally find good deals but the goodwill in my town but they seem to price a lot of it off ebay.

Same here, JB... I've noticed also that yard salers are getting a lot smarter. :|

[mailman187666]

back to the mom thing. Whenever I visit my mother, we are either looking for or playing video games. I am 25 yo and she is......too old lol. She is also the type of mother that I can fuck with about everything. She'll ask me what I did last weekend and I'll just say booze, weed, and girls and she'll just be like oh where did I ever go wrong. Just fucking around. Back to the flea markets and stuff, my mother has learned quite a bit about rarities and whats new all the time just from going with us and reading magazines. She even has called me to tell me she found Dragon Warrior 7 and Legend of Mana for PS1 and I yelled at her to give them up. I also am going to steal her copy of Earthbound. Its actually fun going with her sometimes because we'll talk shit to employees and give them a hard time together just for fun. They don't always know we are just kidding unfortunately so we try to leave the sensitive ones alone. I can say I am a nerd, but I could care less about being seen in public with my mother. Fuck, I'll hit on women with my mother standing right next to me and not give a shit.

[blue lander]

My mom used to take me to thrifts too, when I was too young to drive.

People are mostly nice at the thrifts I go to. Not a lot of "professionals" or old ladies or eBay scalpers, just lots and lots of immigrants. They have a nasty habit of simply parking in the middle of a parking lot if there's no open spaces. They'll literally block 5-10 cars, possibly more. That's why I always try to park in neighboring parking lots even if it means a walk.

[ianoid]

Thrifting sucks. I hate you. Go home.

[josekortez]

Yeah, Goodwill is a good resource for stuff, and I haven't encountered much competition there when looking for games. I recently found an official Agetec Dreamcast joystick and a brand new Guitar Hero III set for 360 at different Goodwills, and it's probably the best place to find Saturn games for some reason. Also, I assume that most people don't go to Goodwill expecting to put out much money, so if it's moderately priced as opposed to really cheap, they probably won't put out the cash. That's when I swoop in.

I have taken my mom and grandma to thrifts and yard sales before, but mom is too slow when looking at the items and grandma talks to every homeowner at every yard sale about how long they lived there, etc., so I don't take them anymore. I can cover more ground that way...

[Cornelius]

I have taken my mom and grandma to thrifts and yard sales before, but mom is too slow when looking at the items and grandma talks to every homeowner at every yard sale about how long they lived there, etc., so I don't take them anymore. I can cover more ground that way...

I think the goodwill employees get the really good stuff around me... I know one of the girls is into games and ps1 stuff in particular.

I totally know what you mean about covering more ground at garage sales alone. If my wife/son comes with me I have to totally change my perspective and accept that I might miss out on a big score so that I can score big later. :lovin: Heh, just had to use that line even thought that's not really how things work.

[Slate]

You know, Prices have gone up in the local goodwill. I saw a nintendo 64 for $13 and it was just the system! It had the "Jumper" Pack but other than that it was a bare bones system. It was clear, But I didn't want it for that price.

[josekortez]

You know, Prices have gone up in the local goodwill.

You're telling me! I recently moved to a new area and Goodwill is the predominant thrfit store as opposed to where I used to live where there were more independently owned stores. Goodwill here charges between $3.25-$4.25 for loose NES or Atari carts, whereas at home I would find them for anywhere between 95 cents and $2.95 each. The closest Gamecrazy is about 20-30 miles away, so unfortunately, if I want to find new NES games around here, I prefer to go the Goodwill route rather than making a trek.

DVDs and last gen games such as PS2, Xbox and GameCube go for $6.25, which isn't bad depending on the game. I lucked out on my last run with Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles, Dragon Quest VIII and Mario Kart Double Dash, but I rarely find stuff like that at Goodwill.

They even have a specific store owned by Goodwill in the rich area called "Second Chances," but it's like Goodwill for rich people.

I miss the independent stores I used to go to, and I will still hit those places when I go back home. On my last trip, one of the thrift owners sold me a 2600 Jr. with all the hookups and 19 loose games for $20. Sometimes, he doesn't mind haggling, and they would never do that at Goodwill...

[calgon]

I agree with Goodwill adopting price inflation. It seems like my local GW has set the bare-minimum of $7/00 for any cartridge game. It's been this way for a good year or so now.... :(

[Cornelius]

I try to hit goodwill on a tag sale day or once a week they do 1/2 price on kids' toys, and game carts fall in that category. That knocks the 2.99-3.99 price down nicely.

I wouldn't complain about gamecrazy being far away. It is far away here, too, but one day I happened to be passing by and saw they have SMB3 tagged for $30. When I saw that I left, and am not likely to go back, unless maybe they give $15 trade in on it, heh... yeah right.

[MachineGex]

Once while at a thirft store, I found a rusty toaster from the 1950's. It was way over priced at $24.99. There was a guy in front of me who had just pick up all the 2600 games. He even took the doubles. I was pissed. I grabbed my rusty over-priced toaster and smashed the guy's head in. He bleed out on the atari games and I didn't buy them, but I did get my point accross. That was one of my better experiences at the good ol' thrift store.

[josekortez]

Once while at a thirft store, I found a rusty toaster from the 1950's. It was way over priced at $24.99. There was a guy in front of me who had just pick up all the 2600 games. He even took the doubles. I was pissed. I grabbed my rusty over-priced toaster and smashed the guy's head in. He bleed out on the atari games and I didn't buy them, but I did get my point accross. That was one of my better experiences at the good ol' thrift store.

Sometimes I want to smash somebody if there aren't any games to be found. If that actually happened to you, remind me never to run into you at a thrift.

[Carey85]

Funny, it seems like the biggest problems I've had in thrifting or going to fleas has been the instances when I've had like minded collectors with me. Kind of hard to stand quietly as a friend picks up a complete copy of Megaman X3 before you see it...

[8bitgamer]

One time I went into Thrift Town (Dallas/Fort Worth area) and I walked past a guy in line who had an Atari Super Pong and an Intellivision (with games) in his shopping cart. He must have noticed the funny look on my face so we struck up a friendly conversation and exchanged phone numbers. So that was a pretty cool experience, despite my missing out on the stuff.

[jb143]

After reading a lot of these posts...It seems quite ironic that Goodwill is bringing the worst out of people LOL

[PentiumMMX]

I've never run into those extreme eBayers before (Thankfully...)

Because I never find anything worthwhile at Goodwill or any thrift store, I mainly go to a near-by pawn shop.